Does your company need a whistleblower scheme?

A whistleblower solution is not just a duty. It is a valuable opportunity for companies that want to promote openness, integrity, and accountability. The solution gives your employees and business partners the opportunity to report suspicious circumstances in a safe way and helps you to identify and tackle potential problems quickly.

A whistleblower solution is also a good business

In the larger perspective, an effective whistleblower solution can prove extremely valuable for your company. It is a powerful tool for discovering foul play or problems before they grow too big and can cause damage to the trust in your company. In this way, it can help you prevent corruption scandals, financial crime and other inappropriate behavior and protect your reputation.

Which technical solution should we choose?

There are many excellent technical solutions for whistleblower solutions on the market. Before you commit to a solution, you should make sure that it has a high level of security and is able to handle the case processing. It must be safe for a whistleblower to use the system and easy for you as a company to deal with a notification. As a starting point, we also recommend that you avoid solutions with very technically demanding setups or complex integrations to your other IT systems.

Clear communication to your employees

Another important element in the implementation of a whistleblower solution is to have it communicated to your employees. If you want the solutions to be used, everyone must feel confident that they can use it without risk of reprisal and know how to use it. Here, too, it is a good idea to get started in good time so that you have the necessary resources for the task and can ensure that all employees are informed about the solution when it starts up.

What happens when a notification comes in?

On the organizational level, you must decide whether you can handle the case processing of complaints yourself, or whether you want to get qualified help from outside. For example, you must assess whether you have the skills and resources in the organization to handle notifications and can assess whether a case is within or outside the solution. And whether you can handle the cases in a way that complies with the requirements for case processing, content, and deadlines.

Anonymity is not a requirement, but a good idea

In the Danish Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers, it is not a requirement that the whistleblower should have the opportunity to be anonymous. However, the whistleblower has several rights that protect against, for example, reprisals. But even if it is not a requirement, it can make good sense to ensure the possibility of anonymity in the system you establish in the company. This increases the likelihood that the solution will be used and your opportunity to react to inappropriate conditions.

Do you need help getting started?

Seen in that light, it is obvious to tackle the work of implementing a whistleblower solution and whistleblower-friendly culture in your company or organization already now. If you would like advice on how you can put together a whistleblower solution and implement it in your company, you are welcome to contact Joachim Lykke Dresner, lawyer in Lund Elmer Sandager.